The Basics of Growing Lilies: Types, Planting, and Care for Summer-Long Blooms

Asiatic Lilies are among the first to bloom in summer.

Lilies are beloved by gardeners everywhere. Big, bright, dependable flowers with unsurpassed elegance. Plant several varieties for blooms all summer.

Planting and Care

Though lilies look fussy, they're very easy to grow. Not particular about soil type or pH; grow well in full sun, part sun, dappled shade, even light shade.

Plant lily bulbs immediately upon receipt, fall or spring. Lacking the papery "tunic" of other hardy bulbs, they dry out quickly in storage.

Lilies demand well-drained soil more than other bulbs. Dig at least 12 inches deep, remove rocks, add organic matter (leaf mold, peat moss) for structure and drainage. Like other bulbs, they appreciate bone meal at planting hole bottom, but don't require other fertilizers then. Instead, wait for green leaves, then sprinkle complete organic fertilizer around plant and water in.

Mulch with compost, well-rotted manure, or longer-lasting bark mulch, wood chips, cocoa shells to keep soil moist and cool. Cover beds over winter with straw/evergreen boughs to protect bulbs from freeze-thaw cycles.

During flowering, remove spent blooms but don't cut more than a third of the stem—reduces vigor and longevity. For cut flowers, consider a designated cutting garden with fresh bulbs yearly.

Types of Lilies for Continuous Summer Bloom

Many gardeners don't realize there are several lily types, each blooming at different times. Plant a few of each for lilies all summer.

Asiatic lilies (Asiatic hybrids) start early to midsummer. Upward-facing flowers, hardy zones 4-9.

Extend Asiatic season with LA Hybrids, a newer type. Larger flowers than most Asiatics, with Easter lily fragrance. Grow to 30 inches, colors from cream through pink, peach, yellow, orange, red.

Next: Martagons (Lilium martagon), aka Turk's cap lilies. 3-4 feet tall, dainty 3-inch recurved flowers, up to 20 blooms per stem. Hardy zones 3-9.

Midsummer brings Trumpet Lilies, named for trumpet-shaped flowers, hardy zones 5-9. Two subcategories:

• Aurelian hybrids: taller, up to 5 feet
• Easter Lilies (Lilium longiflorum): huge, outward-facing, fragrant blooms

Tiger lilies (Lilium lancifolium) stand 3-4 feet with large, freckled, pendulous recurved blooms. Very hardy (zones 3-9), multiply into large clumps. Happy almost anywhere, dozen+ flowers per stem. Warm colors: golden yellow through orange to reds.

Rubrum Lilies (Lilium speciosum var. rubrum) resemble Tigers with recurved petals, but cool colors (white to deep pink) and sweet fragrance.

Season ends with a bang when Oriental Lilies bloom. Intensely fragrant, huge flat blossoms up to 10 inches across. Fabulous in garden or vase. Breeding has widened color range. New relative: Oriental Trumpet Lily, a hybrid of Trumpet and Oriental lilies—upward-facing blooms with intense fragrance.